Nasdaq adds DeFi cryptocurrency index including Augur, MakerDAO, 0x

Nasdaq is adding a new index that is dedicated to blockchain projects in decentralized finance, featuring major cryptocurrencies such as Augur, Maker, and 0x.

EXANTE, a European investment services firm that was established in 2011 to offer global multi-asset financial services, partnered with the stock exchange operator Nasdaq to offer the Decentralized Finance Index (DeFix).

DeFix is the first index that reflects the real-time dynamics of six decentralized finance solutions, including Augur, Gnosis, Amoveo, Numerai, Maker, and 0x. It offers investors an opportunity to speculate in a collection of platforms that have the potential to disrupt the financial industry.

The index is going to be listed by Nasdaq under the ticker DEFX and it is already available to for tracking on the Nasdaq Global Index Data ServiceSM (GIDS) as well as other financial platforms such as TradingView and Google. Meanwhile, Yahoo Finance plans to list it in the near future.

This is not the first time Nasdaq is listing crypto-related indexes. In February, the U.S. stock exchange, through its data dissemination relationship with Brave New Coin, added indices for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the Bitcoin Liquid Index (BLX) and the Ethereum Liquid Index (ELX).

Later on, it included the XRP Liquid Index (XRPLX) to provide a real-time data for the price of 1 XRP, quoted in USD. Finally, Nasdaq’s Quandl platform announced a partnership with CryptoCompare to provide aggregate index datasets with up-to-date pricing data for the “most liquid” cryptocurrency markets.

Charles Hayter, co-founder and CEO at CryptoCompare, welcomed the association by stating that:

“We are delighted to partner with Nasdaq on a joint Aggregate Crypto Reference Prices product. Reliable data is the bedrock of transparent, liquid markets and by bringing our high quality, granular dataset to a global institutional client base, via the Quandl platform, we will give traders and investors a competitive edge.”

Although cryptocurrencies aren’t tradeable on the Nasdaq at the moment, other established financial institutions are reportedly building cryptocurrency trading platforms.

Fidelity Investments, for instance, is launching a cryptocurrency trading service through Fidelity Digital Assets, according to a Bloomberg report. Bakkt, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange, is set to deploy the first physically-settled Bitcoin futures contracts in the market in the next two weeks.

Overall, it seems like cryptocurrency instruments are finally coming to the masses.